Some GOP Legislators Hit Jarring Notes In Addressing Katrina

[Mark E. Smith]

Washington Post 9/10

Some lawmakers are still struggling to find the sympathetic but diligent response that a disaster such as Hurricane Katrina -- and the lagging government response to its victims -- would seem to call for.

The latest elected official to step into the swamp was Rep. Richard H. Baker, a 10-term Republican from Baton Rouge. The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that he was overheard telling lobbyists:"We finally cleaned up public housing in New Orleans. We couldn't do it, but God did."

Democrats, of course, gleefully disseminated the report, saying they detected a GOP pattern. House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill) recently spoke of bulldozing part of New Orleans, they reminded everyone, and Senator Rick Santorum (R-Pa) suggested punishing people who had ignored pre-storm evacuation orders.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/09/AR2005090901930.html

[AlCzervik]

1. Rep. Richard Baker is going to hell.

[bushisanidiot]

2. Repukes are freely displaying their bigotry now.. I love it!!!

come on KKK.. time to weigh in and tell us how president pussy did everything EXACTLY right..

[livetohike]

3. When will it be "permissible" for Dem and African-American leaders

to make the rounds of the news shows and openly criticize these racists?

This Sunday perhaps? Or will the emphasis be on 9/11 and terror?

[nookiemonster]

4. Cockroaches scurry when you turn the lights on.

n/t

[Judi Lynn]

8. Baker made a pathetic attempt to recover by insulting everyone's

intelligence. Only a truly stupid man would stoop this low:

Baker issued a lengthy statement saying he was "taken aback" by the Journal's brief item. "What I remember expressing, in a private conversation with a housing advocate and member of my staff, was that 'We have been trying for decades to clean up New Orleans public housing to provide decent housing for residents, and now it looks like God is finally making us do it,' " Baker wrote. "Obviously I have never expressed anything but the deepest concern about the suffering that this terrible catastrophe has caused for so many in our state."
(snip/...)

How low can a man go?
Rep. Richard H. Baker knows.

[nookiemonster]

9. Is there an Olympic event for "backpeddling"?

Motherfucker will take the gold!

[annabanana]

5. They've been letting Rove Central do all their talking for them..

Now that he's got his hands full with polishing the boss.. they're on their own..

And they've forgotten how to cover their asses, PR-wise!!

very. very. funny.

I love Karma

[magellan]

6. This would have been shocking seven years ago.

But since Bush** took office, the overarching Republican theme has been to flush out all who they deem to be "undesireable" from our society -- and that means anyone who isn't well off and a staunch Bush** supporter.

[Rose Siding]

7. "Gleefully", huh?

How about 'in outraged defense of the least among us'? Or 'with anger that the only finger pointing done by repubs was in the direction of the destitute'?

When goper's scummy underbellies are in plain view, dems are still portrayed as less than respectable. Hack